Just a short note: yesterday I made three skydives, the third of which was my 900th!

Up until the 1000th jump, skydivers tend to treat every 100th jump as a personal milestone. Due to work, I’ve been jumping quite irregularly, and it’s taken me two years to get from 800 to 900, but I finally made it!

There isn’t usually any “formal” celebration associated with a 100 jump milestone. Sometimes, the jumper is rewarded with an ambush of whipped cream pies to the face. Fortunately, nobody thought to congratulate me in that manner (though I’m also simultaneously a little disappointed).

I didn’t get video for the 900th: all the videographers I knew were busy doing tandem skydives. I don’t feel particularly sorry, though, because typically my 100 jump milestones have been “zoo” jumps where confusion reigned and nothing got done (except a lot of fun)! I actually told everyone on the plane ride up: “Just relax and have fun, and don’t worry about screwing up my 900th jump, because my 800th and 700th were disasters and I still enjoyed them.” And I wasn’t wrong — chaos reigned on the 900th, and it was still fun!

Now I get to work towards my 1000th jump. I’ll definitely get some sort of video for that occasion!

I do all my skydiving vicariously, so I particularly look forward to the video from your 1000th jump. The thrill from watching while on terra firma isn’t quite the same, but it still gives me a wobbly feeling in my knees. Well done for completing your 900.

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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas.